Christie signs bipartisan budget, but vetoes 8 Democratic bills

— Gov. Chris Christie signed a $33 billion state budget today, the first he’s negotiated with state Democratic leaders and a spending plan that is 4 percent, or $1.3 billion, larger than the current one. Running for re-election, Christie for the first time avoided a drawn-out battle with Democrats, drafting a budget in February that makes modest spending increases across the board, accepts $227 million in federal funds to expand Medicaid for an estimated 104,000 New Jerseyans, and makes a record $1.7 billion payment to the state’s pension fund. The fiscal year 2014 budget relies on nearly 5 percent revenue growth based primarily on swelling income-tax receipts and includes homestead property tax rebates for an estimated 800,000 residents that Christie had to delay several months to close a budget gap. The rebates could be sent out in August, or possibly earlier, Christie has said. Legislative Democrats and Republicans approved the plan Monday after removing a $2 million pilot program for school vouchers and adding a net $55 million in spending on education, nursing homes and other programs. Christie had called for a 10 percent income-tax credit, but did not push for it as hard as last year, and Democrats said the state couldn’t afford it. For the first time, the Republican governor withheld his veto pen and signed exactly

. His administration and Democrats hammered out a deal in closed-door meetings last week. “Working together, we were able to put the people of New Jersey first and pass this budget early,” Christie said in a statement. The budget takes effect Monday. “Once again, Washington D.C., could take a lesson from the bipartisan example we have set here in New Jersey.” Even though he made some concessions to Democrats, Christie also stamped out their efforts to add $7.5 million to family planning centers and to expand Medicaid coverage for such centers, vetoing those two bills and a series of others. Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen), the sponsor of the bill that funds women's health clinics (

), said six centers for women have closed since Christie first cut their state funding three years ago. "It is shameful that the governor is playing politics with the health of the women of New Jersey," she said. "Women and families in communities across New Jersey have lost access to cancer screenings, pre-natal care, STD testing and treatment and birth control." Christie said the bills “would deplete the state’s fiscal resources … and significantly alter the policy and spending priorities” negotiated in the budget this year. “While each bill may have merit, consideration of that merit is better accomplished in the context of negotiating a balanced budget, as we have done this year,” he wrote in a two-page veto message for all eight Democratic bills. Weinberg and dozens of Democratic lawmakers voted against the bipartisan deal on Monday and groused that it shortchanged women’s health care, universal preschool, and a tax credit for the working poor – but in the end, most Democrats and the vast majority of Republicans approved Christie’s plan with none of the fiery rhetoric of previous years. One of the loudest critics was state Sen. Barbara Buono (D-Middlesex), Christie’s Democratic challenger in the governor’s race. "People are asking us to stand with them and you know what we’re saying? ‘You’re on your own,’" Buono said in a floor speech Monday. "Protecting the pocketbooks of millionaires, this governor has forced the working poor and the middle class to pay more and get less in return." Christie touted “job-creating tax cuts,” “drug treatment and mental health services,” “the largest pension payment in state history” and a nearly $100 million increase in school funding that Democrats said could have been higher. The state now has 5,600 fewer workers than when he took office, Christie boasted. The budget includes $40 million in contingency funds for Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts that the federal government doesn’t cover, he added.